The Cyber Security Dilemma and the Securitisation of Cyberspace

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Cyber Security Dilemma and the Securitisation of Cyberspace THE CYBER SECURITY DILEMMA AND THE SECURITISATION OF CYBERSPACE STEVE HERSEE Submitted to Royal Holloway, University of London for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Security Supervised by Professor Pete Adey Professor Keith Martin 1 Declaration of Authorship I Steven Hersee hereby declare that this thesis and the other work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 2 ABSTRACT This thesis analyses the different securitisations of cyberspace by the Digital Rights Community (DRC) and the British state. It considers both the internal and external characteristics of these securitisations, covering the power relations between a variety of securitising actors and their audiences and the use of language and metaphor to construct cyberspace threats. It considers the consequences of these securitisations, paying particular attention to the interplay between threats to national security and threats to digital rights, which are often framed as competitive and mutually exclusive. After considering the competitive nature of these securitisations, this work frames the conflict as a security dilemma, which has resulted in a spiralling, legal, public relations and technological conflict between the British state and the DRC. This has led to distrust, enmity, an inability to co-operate and a sub-optimal outcome for both national security and digital rights. The characteristics of this Cyber Security Dilemma (CSD) are analysed to help understand why it has arisen, why it has become so intense and why it is proving difficult to mitigate or transcend. Fear, uncertainty and a failure to appreciate the concerns of the other side are established as the most significant causes of the conflict. This thesis draws on historical examples, theoretical material and examples from the television show Hunted, where the researcher was both performer and ethnographer. Techniques to help resolve the CSD are discussed, with attention paid to the need for trust building, interpersonal bonding and security dilemma sensibility. Current and historical attempts to resolve the issue are analysed for their effectiveness and a range of principles are proposed to help guide future approaches to the issue. These include the need to establish trust, work in collaboration with others, reject extreme rhetoric and raise the quality of the debate. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE CYBER SECURITY DILEMMA AND THE SECURITISATION OF CYBERSPACE ....................... 1 Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 3 Table of contents ...................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures and Tables .......................................................................................... 6 1: Introduction, Literature Review and Methodology .............................................. 7 1.1 Context ...................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Research Design ...................................................................................... 11 1.3 Literature Review .................................................................................... 16 1.4 Approach ................................................................................................. 33 1.5 Chapter Structure.................................................................................... 52 1.6 Ethics ....................................................................................................... 54 2 The Securitisation of Cyberspace: Power Relations........................................ 56 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 56 2.2 Audiences ................................................................................................ 56 2.3 Securitising Actors and Power Relations ................................................ 59 2.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 92 3 The Securitisation of Cyberspace: Speech Acts .............................................. 95 3.1 Grammars of Securitisation .................................................................... 95 3.2 Heuristic Artefacts ................................................................................ 127 3.3 Connected Securitisations .................................................................... 138 3.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 142 4 The Cyber Security Dilemma ......................................................................... 146 4.1 The Security Dilemma ........................................................................... 146 4.2 Beyond Inter-State Conflict ................................................................... 149 4.3 The Cyber Security Dilemma ................................................................. 152 4.4 Intensifying the Security Dilemma ........................................................ 172 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 187 5 Responding to Cyberspace Securitisation ..................................................... 189 5.1 Approaches to Securitisation ................................................................ 189 5.2 Should Cyberspace be Desecuritised? .................................................. 195 5.3 How might we desecuritise cyberspace? .............................................. 197 5.4 The Limitations of Desecuritisation ...................................................... 201 5.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 204 6 Overcoming the Cyber Security Dilemma ..................................................... 206 6.1 History Repeating Itself ......................................................................... 206 4 6.2 Attempts to Overcome the Security Dilemma ...................................... 207 6.3 Can Security Dilemmas be Overcome? ................................................. 234 6.4 How to solve the Cyber Security Dilemma ........................................... 236 6.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 254 7 Hunted Case Study ........................................................................................ 256 7.1 Hunted .................................................................................................. 256 7.2 An Exploration of Three Principles ........................................................ 258 7.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 277 8 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 279 8.1 Summary ............................................................................................... 279 8.2 Key Research Contributions .................................................................. 282 8.3 Some Key Principles .............................................................................. 283 8.4 Contributions to Research Design and Practice .................................... 286 8.5 Further Work ......................................................................................... 286 9 Glossary ......................................................................................................... 288 Appendix 1: List of Interviewees ........................................................................... 289 10 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 290 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... 348 5 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1.1: The relationship between Securitisation Theory and the security dilemma ............................................................................................................ 16 Table 1.1: GCHQ interview topics ..................................................................... 44 Table 1.2: Open Rights Group interview topics ................................................ 45 Table 1.3: Hunter interview topics ................................................................... 49 Table 2.1: Snowden’s language of martyrdom ................................................ 76 Figure 2.1: Snowden - ‘A fitting poster hero for our times’ .............................. 78 Figure 2.2: Prison Ship Martyrs war memorial ................................................ 78 Figure 2.3 Tim Cook in Time magazine ............................................................. 87 Table 3.1: Technification examples................................................................... 116 Table 3.2: The state as expert ........................................................................... 117 Figure 3.1: Shadowy Employees at GCHQ ........................................................ 135 Figure 3.2: Concealed faces within GCHQ’s ‘Minority Report’ Campaign ........ 135 Figure 3.3: GCHQ recruitment advert ............................................................... 136
Recommended publications
  • The Importance of Narrative in Responding to Hate Incidents Following ‘Trigger’ Events
    The Importance of Narrative in Responding to Hate Incidents Following ‘Trigger’ Events November 2018 Kim Sadique, James Tangen Anna Perowne Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank all of the participants in this research who provided real insight into this complex area. Researchers: Kim Sadique, Senior Lecturer in Community & Criminal Justice Dr James Tangen, Senior Lecturer (VC2020) in Criminology Anna Perowne, Research Assistant All correspondence about this report should be directed to: Kim Sadique Head of Division of Community and Criminal Justice (Acting) De Montfort University The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH Email: [email protected] | Tel: +44 (0) 116 2577832 To report a hate crime, please contact Tell MAMA Email: [email protected] | Tel: +44 (0) 800 456 1226 www.tellmamauk.org Twitter: @TellMAMAUK Facebook: www.facebook.com/tellmamauk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 1 Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary .......................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ............................................................................................ 5 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 6 Aims & Objectives .........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Terrorism Research, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2014)
    ISSN: 2049-7040 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Contents Articles 3 Drones, The US And The New Wars In Africa 3 by Philip Attuquayefio The Central Intelligence Agency’s Armed Remotely Piloted Vehicle-Supported Counter-Insurgency Campaign in Pakistan – a Mission Undermined by Unintended Consequences? 14 by Simon Bennett Human Bombing - A Religious Act 31 by Mohammed Ilyas Entering the Black Hole: The Taliban, Terrorism, and Organised Crime 39 by Matthew D. Phillips, Ph.D. and Emily A. Kamen The Theatre of Cruelty: Dehumanization, Objectification & Abu Ghraib 49 by Christiana Spens Book Review 70 Andrew Silke, et al., (edited by Andrew Silke). Prisons, Terrorism and Extremism: Critical Issues in Management, Radicalisation and Reform.Routledge: Oxon UK, 2014. pp. 282. £28.99. ISBN: 978-0-415- 81038-8. 70 reviewed by Robert W. Hand About JTR 74 JTR, Volume 5, Issue 3 – September 2014 Articles Drones, The US And The New Wars In Africa by Philip Attuquayefio This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Introduction ince the early 20th Century, Africa has witnessed varying degrees of subversion from the Mau Mau nationalist campaigners in Kenya in the 1950s to acts by rebel groups in the infamous intrastate wars Sof Sub-Saharan Africa. While the first movement evolved mainly from political acts geared towards the struggle for independence, the latter was mostly evident in attempts to obtain psychological or strategic advantages by combatants in the brutal civil wars of Liberia, Sierra Leone, the African Great Lakes region and a number of such civil war theatres in Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Cheap Eats, Grown Folks Karaoke, and More Secrets of Fort Greene
    December 20, 2017 Cheap eats, grown folks karaoke, and more secrets of Fort Greene Fort Greene Park is 30 acres on a hill that, at the top, has dramatic views of the city. cisc1970/Flickr Fort Greene is currently getting its close-up: The Brooklyn neighborhood is the setting for Spike Lee's Netflix show, She's Gotta Have It, a reboot of his 1986 film. The director famously grew up in the area, and one of the series' themes is how much things have changed. There's no question that Fort Greene is heavily gentrified. The New York Times was documentingthe neighborhood's "revitalization" as early as 1985. It's not difficult to figure out what draws moneyed newcomers: There are historic brownstone-lined blocks, a 30-acre park that's about to get $5 million in upgrades, abundant transit options (Atlantic Terminal is close by, and you'll find the C at Lafayette Avenue, the G at Fulton Street, the 2,3, 4 and 5 at Nevins Street, and the B and Q at Dekalb Avenue), arts venues, and an array of bars and restaurants. The past is still present in Fort Greene in many ways. In the heart of Fort Greene Park is a monument commemorating the thousands of men and women who died aboard British prison ships during the American revolution. A park bench is dedicated to the author Richard Wright, who penned his novel Native Son in the park many decades later. Not far from the park is the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, which celebrates the contributions of people of African descent, and has hosted exhibitions highlighting Brooklyn artists.
    [Show full text]
  • Sourcefire White Paper
    And Its Role in the Security Model www.sourcefire.com June 2002 Sourcefire, Inc. 7095 Samuel Morse Drive Suite 100 Columbia, MD 21046 410.290.1616 | 410.290.0024 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ............................................................................................................2 Open Source Software: OSS...........................................................................................3 What is OSS?..........................................................................................................................3 History.....................................................................................................................................4 Opinions on OSS.....................................................................................................................4 Arguments in favor of OSS ......................................................................................................5 Security, Stability, and Cost .......................................................................................................................5 Standards, Immediacy, and Lack of Restrictions......................................................................................7 Arguments Against OSS..........................................................................................................7 Status Quo and Security.............................................................................................................................8 Poor Packaging and Support .....................................................................................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Protocol Failure in the Escrowed Encryption Standard
    Protocol Failure in the Escrowed Encryption Standard Matt Blaze AT&T Bell Laboratories [email protected] August 20, 1994 Abstract The proposal, called the Escrowed Encryption Stan- dard (EES) [NIST94], includes several unusual fea- The Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES) de¯nes tures that have been the subject of considerable de- a US Government family of cryptographic processors, bate and controversy. The EES cipher algorithm, popularly known as \Clipper" chips, intended to pro- called \Skipjack", is itself classi¯ed, and implemen- tect unclassi¯ed government and private-sector com- tations of the cipher are available to the private sec- munications and data. A basic feature of key setup be- tor only within tamper-resistant modules supplied by tween pairs of EES processors involves the exchange of government-approved vendors. Software implementa- a \Law Enforcement Access Field" (LEAF) that con- tions of the cipher will not be possible. Although Skip- tains an encrypted copy of the current session key. The jack, which was designed by the US National Security LEAF is intended to facilitate government access to Agency (NSA), was reviewed by a small panel of civil- the cleartext of data encrypted under the system. Sev- ian experts who were granted access to the algorithm, eral aspects of the design of the EES, which employs a the cipher cannot be subjected to the degree of civilian classi¯ed cipher algorithm and tamper-resistant hard- scrutiny ordinarily given to new encryption systems. ware, attempt to make it infeasible to deploy the sys- By far the most controversial aspect of the EES tem without transmitting the LEAF.
    [Show full text]
  • Crypto Wars of the 1990S
    Danielle Kehl, Andi Wilson, and Kevin Bankston DOOMED TO REPEAT HISTORY? LESSONS FROM THE CRYPTO WARS OF THE 1990S CYBERSECURITY June 2015 | INITIATIVE © 2015 NEW AMERICA This report carries a Creative Commons license, which permits non-commercial re-use of New America content when proper attribution is provided. This means you are free to copy, display and distribute New America’s work, or in- clude our content in derivative works, under the following conditions: ATTRIBUTION. NONCOMMERCIAL. SHARE ALIKE. You must clearly attribute the work You may not use this work for If you alter, transform, or build to New America, and provide a link commercial purposes without upon this work, you may distribute back to www.newamerica.org. explicit prior permission from the resulting work only under a New America. license identical to this one. For the full legal code of this Creative Commons license, please visit creativecommons.org. If you have any questions about citing or reusing New America content, please contact us. AUTHORS Danielle Kehl, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Technology Institute Andi Wilson, Program Associate, Open Technology Institute Kevin Bankston, Director, Open Technology Institute ABOUT THE OPEN TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Open Technology Institute at New America is committed to freedom The authors would like to thank and social justice in the digital age. To achieve these goals, it intervenes Hal Abelson, Steven Bellovin, Jerry in traditional policy debates, builds technology, and deploys tools with Berman, Matt Blaze, Alan David- communities. OTI brings together a unique mix of technologists, policy son, Joseph Hall, Lance Hoffman, experts, lawyers, community organizers, and urban planners to examine the Seth Schoen, and Danny Weitzner impacts of technology and policy on people, commerce, and communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Battle of the Clipper Chip - the New York Times
    Battle of the Clipper Chip - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/12/magazine/battle-of-the-clipp... https://nyti.ms/298zenN Battle of the Clipper Chip By Steven Levy June 12, 1994 See the article in its original context from June 12, 1994, Section 6, Page 46 Buy Reprints VIEW ON TIMESMACHINE TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. On a sunny spring day in Mountain View, Calif., 50 angry activists are plotting against the United States Government. They may not look subversive sitting around a conference table dressed in T-shirts and jeans and eating burritos, but they are self-proclaimed saboteurs. They are the Cypherpunks, a loose confederation of computer hackers, hardware engineers and high-tech rabble-rousers. The precise object of their rage is the Clipper chip, offically known as the MYK-78 and not much bigger than a tooth. Just another tiny square of plastic covering a silicon thicket. A computer chip, from the outside indistinguishable from thousands of others. It seems 1 of 19 11/29/20, 6:16 PM Battle of the Clipper Chip - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/12/magazine/battle-of-the-clipp..
    [Show full text]
  • The Human-Capital Needs of Tech-City, London
    THE HUMAN-CAPITAL NEEDS OF TECH CITY, LONDON By Max Nathan TRANSATLANTIC COUNCIL ON MIGRATION THE HUMAN-CAPITAL NEEDS OF TECH CITY, LONDON Max Nathan August 2014 Acknowledgments This research was commissioned by the Transatlantic Council on Migration, an initiative of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), for its eleventh plenary meeting, held during November 2013 in London. The meeting’s theme was “Cities and Regions: Reaping Migration’s Local Dividends” and this paper was one of the reports that informed the Council’s discussions. The Council is a unique deliberative body that examines vital policy issues and informs migration policymaking processes in North America and Europe. The Council’s work is generously supported by the following foundations and governments: Open Society Foundations, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Barrow Cadbury Trust (UK policy partner), the Luso-American Development Foundation, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the governments of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. For more on the Transatlantic Council on Migration, please visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/transatlantic. © 2014 Migration Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved. Cover Design: Danielle Tinker, MPI Typesetting: Rebecca Kilberg, MPI No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Migration Policy Institute. A full-text PDF of this document is available for free download from www.migrationpolicy.org. Information for reproducing excerpts from this report can be found at www.migrationpolicy.org/about/copyright-policy. Inquiries can also be directed to: Permissions Department, Migration Policy Institute, 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or by contacting [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Spatial Imaginaries and Tech Cities: Place-Branding East London's Digital Economy
    Title Spatial Imaginaries and Tech Cities: Place-branding East London’s digital economy Type Article URL https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/14511/ Dat e 2 0 1 8 Citation Voss, Georgina and Nathan, Max and Vandore, Emma (2018) Spatial Imaginaries and Tech Cities: Place-branding East London’s digital economy. Journal of Economic Geography, 19 (2). pp. 409-432. ISSN 1468-2710 Cr e a to rs Voss, Georgina and Nathan, Max and Vandore, Emma Usage Guidelines Please refer to usage guidelines at http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected] . License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author FORTHCOMING IN JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY Spatial Imaginaries and Tech Cities: Place-branding East London's digital economy Max Nathan1, Emma Vandore2 and Georgina Voss3 1 University of Birmingham. Corresponding author 2 Kagisha Ltd 3 London College of Communication Corresponding author details: Birmingham Business School, University House, University of Birmingham, BY15 2TY. [email protected] Abstract We explore place branding as an economic development strategy for technology clusters, using London’s ‘Tech City’ initiative as a case study. We site place branding in a larger family of policies that develop spatial imaginaries, and specify affordances and constraints on place brands and brand-led strategies. Using mixed methods over a long timeframe, we analyse Tech City’s emergence and the overlapping, competing narratives that preceded and succeeded it, highlighting day-to-day challenges and more basic tensions. While a strong brand has developed, we cast doubt on claims that policy has had a catalytic effect, at least in the ways originally intended.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume X, Issue 2 April 2016 PERSPECTIVES on TERRORISM Volume 10, Issue 2
    ISSN 2334-3745 Volume X, Issue 2 April 2016 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 10, Issue 2 Table of Contents Welcome from the Editor 1 I. Articles ‘Gonna Get Myself Connected’: The Role of Facilitation in Foreign Fighter Mobilizations 2 by Timothy Holman II. Special Correspondence to Perspectives on Terrorism Why Has The Islamic State Changed its Strategy and Mounted the Paris-Brussels Attacks? 24 by David C. Rapoport III. Research Notes Analysing the Processes of Lone-Actor Terrorism: Research Findings 33 by Clare Ellis, Raffaello Pantucci, Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn, Edwin Bakker, Melanie Smith, Benoît Gomis and Simon Palombi Analysing Personal Characteristics of Lone-Actor Terrorists: Research Findings and Recommendations 42 by Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn and Edwin Bakker Evaluating CVE: Understanding the Recent Changes to the United Kingdom’s Implementation of Prevent 50 by Caitlin Mastroe In Conversation with Mubin Shaikh: From Salafi Jihadist to Undercover Agent inside the “Toronto 18” Terrorist Group 61 Interview by Stefano Bonino IV. Resources Bibliography: Terrorism Research Literature (Part 2) 73 Compiled and selected by Judith Tinnes V. Book Reviews Counterterrorism Bookshelf: 30 Books on Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism-Related Subjects 103 Reviewed by Joshua Sinai ISSN 2334-3745 i April 2016 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 10, Issue 2 VI. Notes from the Editor Op-Ed: Competing Perspectives on Countering ISIS 118 by Hashim Al-Ribaki Conference Announcement and Call for Proposals 120 About Perspectives on Terrorism 122 ISSN 2334-3745 ii April 2016 PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 10, Issue 2 Welcome from the Editor Dear Reader, We are pleased to announce the release of Volume X, Issue 2 (April 2016) of Perspectives on Terrorism at www.terrorismanalysts.com.
    [Show full text]
  • Terrorist Activities Detection Via Social Media Using Big Data Analytics
    International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology (IJIRSET) | e-ISSN: 2319-8753, p-ISSN: 2320-6710| www.ijirset.com | Impact Factor: 7.512| || Volume 9, Issue 6, June 2020 || Terrorist Activities Detection via Social Media Using Big Data Analytics 1 2 Manisha Sager , Milind B. Vaidya P.G. Student, Department of Computer Engineering, Amrutvahini Engineering College, Sagamner, Maharashtra, India1 Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, Amrutvahini Engineering College, Sagamner, Maharashtra, India2 ABSTRACT:Social media are perhaps the richest source of human generated text input. Opinions, feedbacks and criticisms provided by internet users reflect attitudes and feelings towards certain topics and issues. The large volume of such information makes it impossible for any group of people to read it. Thus, social media has become an important tool for spreading their opinions and influencing or attracting people in general to join their terrorist activities. Twitter is the most common and simple way to reach many people in a short time. In this paper, focused on the development of a system that can automatically detect terrorism-supporting tweets by real-time analytics using apache spark machine learning framework. Proposed system is entirely dependent on training data and tries to improve accuracy. This system will help to block the terrorist accounts from twitter so that they can’t promote their views or spread fear among ordinary people. KEYWORDS:terrorist activities, text mining, sentiment analysis, social media, machine learning. I. INTRODUCTION Social media, today, plays arguably a very essential part in a life of not only an individual but also in functioning of a government.
    [Show full text]
  • Bastian Ballmann Attack and Defense with Python 3 2Nd Edition
    Bastian Ballmann Understanding Network Hacks Attack and Defense with Python 3 2nd Edition Understanding Network Hacks Bastian Ballmann Understanding Network Hacks Attack and Defense with Python 3 2nd Edition Bastian Ballmann Uster, Switzerland ISBN 978-3-662-62156-1 ISBN 978-3-662-62157-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-62157-8 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2015, 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations. Responsible Editor: Martin Börger This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.
    [Show full text]